Devil's guardian angel
by Britnah Northwind
Summary: A tribute to my favorite characters from the series... I hope
1. Reborn

The room was cold and silent. From the steel pod emerged a whole set of tubes and wires, linked to a computer. On the huge screen, the only light source of that place, was displayed a series of parameters, monitoring the pod status.

The quietness was suddenly broken. A sound signal echoed through the walls, and the computer screen went red. The pod opened like a germinating seed, releasing a cloud of ice-cold smog. A woman was then revealed. From the seemly peaceful sleep, her eyes opened wide, as she took the cold air to her lungs so desperately, she appeared to be breathing for the first time.

As she tries to recompose herself, the lights went on, revealing the white, aseptic room. She raised her torso, only to feel her head being shaken by the worst feeling of nausea you can imagine. She attempted to her surroundings: a lab; and not very far from her, a table, full of surgical tools. Her first instinct was looking down her naked body, but she found no marks or scars… she seemed unharmed. Which didn't stop the adrenaline flood in her veins: she tossed her body out of the pod, and forced herself to stand.

Ignoring the low temperature, she rushed to the main panel. BLOCK02 – CRYOSLEEP.

"Where the hell am I?" She cooed to herself.

The red signal indicated a failure on one of the pods, the computer referring it as SUBJECT ALPHA.

Her mind was racing, trying to make sense of the situation. And there's only a way it can do that. Remember. Unfortunately, every time she tried, she founded only a blank.

 _I was surely part of a messed up experiment. What did they seek? And who are they?_

She began researching, but most of the files needed some password to be accessed. Her profile displayed information she already know. Nina Williams; 23; Irish; assassin for hire; master in Aikido. She looked around. A small shelf, holding a few folders caught her attention. She readily took the heavier one, which, however, didn't have more than a dozen pages.

«HISTORY: ALPHA After a first analysis on Subject Alpha, we believe she was surely target of other treatments in the past: her limbic system has been modified, probably by chemical means, and shows signs of tubal ligation.»

 _What a great way to start the day…_

Other than the thin folders, Block02 hadn't anything to offer but a closet full of medicine, computers and analyzers. She left the room, only to face a dark corridor. The walls vibrated and some of the roof lamps buzzed as she passed, giving occasional sparks. The next massive door announced STORAGE. Inside, boxes and boxes were placed in a giant shelf. After a quick look, she located the one with a rooky handwriting: ALPHA (N. WILLIAMS). She pulled it, and found all her belongings… not that she recalls them, not even the polished twin automatic _Glock 17_. She quickly dressed the one-piece leather suit, and got out in silent steps.

The murmur of the steel walls was getting louder. On the way, deep claw marks appeared adorning the walls. And with it, dry spots of blood. Alarmed, she took her hands to the gun barrels. The next door appearing was severely damaged. The deformed letters formed the words STAFF ROOM. This time, Nina had to put her strength to the test, by forcing the heavy door to open. She made it, but only got space to enter sideways. The room was much larger than she anticipated. The only thing she found there was chaos: along the equidistant lines of desks holding several computers, archives were smashed against some of the screens, and papers were scattered on the floor; there were sharp pieces of glass, from broken desk lamps, shining on top of the tables; fallen lockers… and corpses. Some dressed in white lab outfits, and others in black smoking. One of them had its skull facing her, with wide, cracked orbits and a partially opened mouth. Under its arm, Nina noticed a block of yellow pages, and slid it slowly towards her.

«Today, a stranger invaded our labs. It wasn't the ordinary type: he's as tall as a bear, and we could all sense his power, a dark force evolving it. People started calling it Ogre. He had a girl in his arms, and demanded to talk with Doctor Bosconovitch. The Russian scientist readily appeared to face the threat, with an escort of a dozen guards, armed to the teeth. The Ogre was very specific: he needed some experiments on her, and the monitoring and results should be reported only to him. Doctor Bosconovitch was always an eccentric man, but I never believed he'd agree with a stranger to use his precious lab and research. But as the Ogre talked, Dr. Bosconovitch fell in silence, like a child hearing a bedtime story, then, he smiled… and agreed. And I could see in his expression… something changed: the man became compliant, like a puppet. The will of the Ogre became his own. And now, through him, the monster controls every one of us.»

Nina twisted her eyebrows. Nothing on that letter made sense. The girl in the monster's arms… was her?

The floor vibrated and snapped her out of her thoughts. She continued along the corridor, and eventually reached out a cockpit. She could see the ocean waving below her. She was not in just a lab… it was an airship. The auto-pilot was engaged, showing multiple minor failures piling up. It was a matter of time until the airship dives into the sea. The controls were been savagely broken, sulked by claw marks, which Nina followed with her fingertips. There were more corpses to be found, dismembered, whose arms and legs were then spotted several meters away from the torso; splashes of blood appeared everywhere. One of the corpses had his hands on top of the panel, while the rest of the body lies on the floor, its broken spine pressing against the bloody lab-suit. Somewhere between the confusion of blood, broken bones and rotten guts, Nina was able to find another note. Because of the blood stains she only could read parts of it.

«(…) Experimentation didn't have the results expected, (…) Bosconovitch went mad! Start shooting the employees! Some of the staff jumped off (…) The Ogre came (…) claws emerged sharp as daggers, (…) turned into a hideous snout, monstrous wings burst from its back (…) long tail cut through steel like butter (…) some died impaled in his horns (…) And I am next. Been hiding among the corpses too long. (…) I closed the blocks to keep them safe. I'll rush to the panel and engage the auto-pilot. With luck, they will awake once the pods ran out of energy… it's that or fall into the ocean when the systems start to fail… Either of them is better than die at the hands of that freak (…)»

Nina was assaulted by another piercing headache, which almost made her lost her balance. For most she tried to reason, under the evidences, there appeared to be none. Still, the view of the cockpit was quite alarming: the only thing the ship had under it was ocean. If she wants to get out of there, she has to be able to guide the flying lab to the city. She fought against the sparkling, ruined controls, but eventually the auto-pilot was engaged in the right direction.

 _The note mentions some of the staff 'jumped off' the ship in order to escape Bosconovitch's madness. So this place must have some sort of hangar…_

Determined to find it, Nina passed by BLOCK02 again, but in the opposite direction, and a few steps ahead, she found another: BLOCK01. Inside, there was a lab exactly equal to the one she came from. It readily illuminated as soon as she passed the door with the same blindly white lights. And there was a pod, still working. The computer screen showed SUBJECT UNKNOWN – ID NEEDED.

As she got close, giving a look to its interior, she jumped as she faces a familiar sight: her sister, Anna.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked to the sleeping woman.

There were instructions to awake her, but Nina ignored them. Her little sister spent all her life make Nina's into a living hell. By mere curiosity, Nina searched all the desks and lockers. Was Anna evolved in the massacre she presented?

The answer came soon enough, when she spotted an old notebook in one of the lockers.

«We got another subject. She didn't tell her name, only claims to be sister of the subject alpha. She demanded us to put her in cryo-sleep for as many time as her sister, and paid us well for that, so Bosconovitch ordered me to put her in our oldest pod.»

Nina smiled. "Sweet dreams, then." Then she left the block, and headed to the hangar. There were carcasses piling at the entrance. The doors were made of thick steel, and in spite of severely damaged, they were still solid. They were, however, opened by a flinch. Nina could almost see the despair of all those doomed people, as they tried to pass only to die smashed against the steel, or stuck in between.

Nina had no other option but to attempt the same. She held her breath, and passed first her leg, then her arm; she squeezed her body to the max, passing it as slowly as she could. She made it by close. If she were one pound heavier, she would probably die in that place.

The hangar was a wide space, sealed in thick, dark walls, with diffuse spots of red light revealing the shadows of obstacles she couldn't identify. The turbulence there was enormous. The sounds of the objects trembling amplified by that gigantic resonance cage, made her cover her ears. At her right, there was a red lamp, poorly lighting up a yellow-black blazed lever. A few meters forward, lay the parachute-bags, behind a transparent sliding-door.

Nina accelerated her steps, only to jump backwards: as she passed the lever, another image flashed out on the corner of her eyes. At a first glimpse, a skull, a few hairs still stuck, and its jaws wide open; then the body, bended in a ninety degree angle, beneath the ragged lab-suit and a pool of fetid, dark fluid, beneath. Next to the corpse, there was a riffle, and above it, a bended foil.

«I DID IT, MASTER! I DID IT! I did the experiment you requested! However, I must say… some of my workers betrayed us! None admits who did this! Oh Lord I'm sorry for this mess! But I'm fixing it! Yes I am! None will escape this lab! With his life, at least… I WILL KILL THEM! ONE BY ONE! I will not rest until I have its location! And when I do, You'll be proud! Very proud! And then… then You'll fulfill Your part of the bargain, yes? And I shall follow You to eternity, WITHOUT EVER FEAR DEATH!»

 _So this is Bosconovitch…_ Nina immediately dropped the paper, thinking that she was having her first nightmare.

 _Don't be silly and get out of here!_ She demanded to herself.

After a quick sight on the parachutes, she noticed that the majority had been damaged. The holes suggested a gun fire. _Bosconovitch did this on purpose._

Luckily, one of the parachutes, hidden behind the others, seemed intact. She putted it on her back and pulled the lever down. The floor started to move, pending to the city ground, turning into a huge ramp. Nina didn't hesitate: the moment she got eyes on the net of motorways between the buildings, she jumped.


	2. The contract – Part 1

It was a cold night when Nina arrived to the Syndicate's business building, leaving her _Honda Blackbird_ by the road side. In the hall, the only one there was the receptionist, behind a desk: a thin young woman, wearing a tight uniform and a pair of round glasses, with her hair in a messed up knot. "Good evening. How can I assist you?" "The best business is at midnight." Nina recited, as it was requested on the last email she had with her client. "Follow me." The attendant conducted her to one of the elevator doors lined on the wall. She gave her passage, and forced a smile on the other side. Then, she brought a small radio close to her mouth and spoke. "Loaded." Before Nina had time to ask, the elevator' doors closed.

" _Name_." She heard from the hidden speakers. "Nina Williams." " _Password_." She took a moment of reflection. The only thing her client gave to her was a phrase, not a word. "The best business is at midnight." The voice mocked. " _I said 'password' not 'passphrase'_." "It was the only thing that was given to me." "Things are always related. Think."

 _The best business is at midnight…_ She reviewed on her mind. _Midnight. Time._

"Time." " _Correct_." Immediately after, the elevator started its vertiginous descent. As soon as the counter announced -2, the lowest level which had a button for, with the elevator still moving, Nina gazed the grill above her head, already outlining an escape. But then, it stops abruptly, and the doors opened to a large corridor, with suspense cameras which immediately turned to her at once.

As she walked, she passed blinded doors, all with a narrow window on top, which she presumed to be bullet-proof glass, showing offices, each one with a person behind its desk, typing. At some point, she was surprised when two men, holding combat riffles and wearing body-armors emerged from a hall at her right. Both stared at each other, evaluating the situation. Nina hasn't brought any guns with her… but she wouldn't need them anyway. Her mind already did a list of the moves: _do a wall run, take the momentum to break the first's face, quickly kick the other one on his shins, take the nearest gun and shoot both in their heads._

"Ms. Williams?" The man of the left asked, while the other stared at her, biting his lip. She replied by nodding slightly. "Come with us. Boss is waiting." They guided her to a large conference room. The opposite wall was a huge screen, mimicking the landscape of the city at night. In front of it were the shadows of three men, the screen light partially revealing their faces.

"So you're the assassin…" The man in the middle rambled. "Welcome to my facilities." He spread his arms. "May I offer you a drink? Whisky? Cognac, perhaps?"

"I'm not here for your hospitality. Give me the target."

"Straight to the business, hã…" He smiled. "I like you already. I must say, Miss Williams: you have an impressive résumé. Still, I have to be sure you up for the task."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Choose a target. Any man in this room." His demand caught the others by surprise which shivered, after rolling their eyes through everyone. "Impress me."

She looked behind, gazing one of her escorts. The guy hadn't time to react: her right foot had no problem hitting his face; then, she spun, using the momentum to kick him again with her left. All people in the room heard his jaw cracked, as the man fell unanimated. With a free rifle now on the ground, the other one quickly pointed his gun to her head. She reacted instinctively: grabbed his arm, forcing his rifle to point to the ground. Then, she rolled him, positioning herself behind: her knee bent his spine backwards, and finally she evolved his neck with her right arm, and snapped it. Now with two men down, she heard the clicking of loading guns, as more guards appeared behind her, at distance, ready to shoot.

"I told you to choose 'a' target." As the chief of one of the world's greatest mafia organizations, he never saw a thing like that in all his years of leadership. Her moves were so quick his eyes didn't follow, and in a matter of seconds two of his men were knocked down. He had to put a considerable amount of effort not to stutter.

"He shouldn't point me the rifle while I'm working." And what upset him the most was her apathetic expression, her calmness, even when surrounded by laser-points of a dozen rifles. Her mind was a complete mystery. "Apart of that, I think I'm up to any task you have for me."

He cleared out his voice, and answered after a few moments, raising his hand to appease his staff. "Yes, you surely are. And if you made it, perhaps you'll take their vacancies." He smiled. "Your target's name is Steve Fox, a young man who has given cards on the last Tournament. One of the fighters is willing to pay us well for get rid of the competition. Kill him, and you'll receive your share."

Nina looked at the simplistic file, and raised her eyes to meet her client's. "You wasted two of your men just to see if I'm capable of killing a boy?" She twisted her eyebrows. The chief smiled. "You gave quite a show." He shrouded, trying not to seem pissed with her comment.

 _She is too valuable. Get a grip…_ From what he saw moments ago, the life of two men was a price he'll willingly afford. _If you tame her, she will surely become the Syndicate's most precious asset._

"And do not get cocky too soon, missy." He repaid her back, trying to save his remnant pride. "You will have precisely twelve hours to finish the job. Starting now." He finished with a quick look on his _Rolex_.

"Where do I find him?"

"Latest info we have is that he usually goes to train on the local gym early morning. Try the Leana Hotel. You should have quite a view from there."

Without any more words, she turned backs, ready to leave.

"One more thing." The chief warned, opening a perverse smile. "There is another thing about him you should know." She stopped. "He's your son."

"Good try." She replied immediately. "I don't remember to have any. You have a spoiled sense of humor."

Ahead, another big, armored guy barred her way to give her a backpack.

"What is this?"

"Your weapon." Nina looked over her shoulder.

"I have my own."

"Boss insists."

She ripped it off his hands, and tossed it to her back. The man hopped to see her lost her balance because of its weight, but she handled it smoothly.

"It's a…"

"Sniper rifle, I know." She cut.

 _It is the only weapon we have to carry, in pieces._

* * *

"Don't wait for tomorrow! Clean this mess!" The Syndicate's chief ordered, as he had his eyes on the corpses left in the ground.

"Do you really think she will pull the trigger?" Someone's voice asked, echoing though the darkness.

"Did you saw the same as I did?" He started with a rhetorical question. "Not in a single moment I saw her hesitate. She has the same feelings as this damn computer!" He pointed to one of the screens. "With some luck, she might even bring us his head in a plastic bag!" He finished with a sick laugh.

* * *

It was not a good presage to arrive at the Leana's and saw the decadence of the main façade. Upon entering, Nina was greeted by the worst décor, and a fat woman of thick curls sticking out of her head, an exaggerated makeover, and spots of white powder under her nostrils.

"What do you want?!" Her words were dragged out of her mouth, as she showed her teeth, black as coil.

Nina asked for a key to any room, and the woman just picked one randomly, tossing it towards her. "Have fun."

As it wasn't bad already, the corridor was a complete mess: the wall paper was ragged, and the carpet stunk, the geometric figures masked in dirt and spots of… whatever that was.

The room that awaited Nina when she wasn't any cozier, too: the air was heavy with a gigantic cloud of dust and the stench of mold. The dinner room only had one tiny table of barbed wood, and a couch which wadding had stitches in every corner, in front of an old television; all of these above the dusty floor of an aviary.

Not wanting to explore more of that stink-hole, she managed to sit by the window frame, and took a brief nap, leaned against the window.

Then, she awaited the sun to rise, and attempted the streets. The sniper was already mounted, loaded and ready to shoot. It was the only thing to make her ignore the coldness, the unbearable smell and a growling stomach. And, at last, she spots him, walking the streets. Through the gun sight, she took a closer look to his face: it definitely matched the profile picture on the Syndicate's file… and it was definitely similar to hers. She had him locked, but she couldn't pull the trigger. Somehow, in her gut, she knew the Syndicate bastard told her the truth: Steve Fox is her son.


	3. Hunting ghosts

Lei Wulong was frequently referred as 'the super police', but in that moment, he was nervous. He received a phone-call of one of his informers, particularly one that he thought to be 'deactivated' a long time ago. The words were rendered quickly, but perfectly clear: _The Syndicate sent an assassin to kill the British boxer from the fourth tournament, Steve Fox. Her name's Nina Williams. You can find her at the Leana Hotel. You have twelve hours. Maybe less…_

When he heard the assassin's name, it hit him with the force of an invisible wall. His first reaction was to invade his boss's office.

"Sir! I need to talk to you!"

"What is it, Superman?" He mocked, while smoking a pipe.

"I received info about Nina Williams!"

The man stopped, and his eyes swiped him out, feet to head. Then, he giggled.

"Good try. You almost caught me."

"I'm afraid it's no joke, sir. I received a call."

"Who?"

"One of my informers."

"Since when you put your informers searching for her?"

"I didn't."

"Who is that informer of yours?"

"Sasha Reed…"

"How did I guess…" He rambled.

"Sir, you must listen! Nina is…"

"I know who she is, damn it!" He roared, standing up. "And I know it is impossible to be her! Besides, Sasha is not even a valuable source of information! She's playing detective, that's all!"

"Don't you think we should try?"

"Look around you! You think we're on vacations? We have tons of work to be done! I cannot send men to the field just because of your girlfriend's suppositions!"

Wulong's muscles got tense, and the police director gave a step back.

"Look… I'm sorry, but I don't believe it. What do you know about her? What do you have? Archived files, pictures with more than a decade… Why the hell did you mess with the archive?"

"I didn't! Her name was mentioned to me after all these years! What's that sound?"

"What was the message?" He sighed.

"She's assigned to kill a British boxer called Steve Fox by command of the Syndicate. We cannot ignore this!"

"The boy has some connection to the Syndicate?"

"Not that we've know, for now. Still, we're dealing with a potential threat to a person's life." Wulong reasoned.

"You're right…" He finally acknowledged. "But if you want to keep going, I suggest you have something more substantial than this. None of us will hunt a ghost, Lei."

"What if she has been working for them all along?!"

"I doubt it. You're not the only one with moles inside the Syndicate's network. If she was working for them, we'd found it sooner. This is the way I see the picture: or either she ran, and is now living in the remotest place on this earthly plane, or she died. And it's more likely to be the second… this world is too small. No one can live hidden for that long… And I doubt she would surface now… she's like, what? Forties already?"

"So what? She's unable to kill?!"

"C'mon, Lei! It is very unlikely she's still alive…"

"But not impossible! Please, sir!" He threw himself to the desk. "Send me there. To Leana's Hotel."

"The Leana's?!" The man stopped for several seconds, looking at him inquisitively. "What… is the info you have, exactly?"

"She's going to kill the kid in the next twelve hours, and she will be staying at the Leana's hotel."

He scratched his head, rambling on the right words to use.

"This is too easy…" Wulong snorted, clearly impatient. "Think with me: you spent five years of your career trying to catch her, and she always found a way to slip between your fingers. And you expect what? Finding her in her room, waiting for you? It's a trap!"

"Still! If there is any possibility for someone's life to be compromised, we should act!"

"Ok, you won! But let me tell you this: you're on your own." He shrouded, taking another big breath on his pipe. "You will go tomorrow morning."

Wulong's eyes widened.

"Tomorrow?! But… sir… tomorrow might be too late! The kid might be dead by then!"

"Cross your fingers, boy. You have papers to dispatch, so you will stay here tonight. This is an order."

Wulong turned backs on the detective, with closed fists on both sides of his body.

"Your skepticism makes me sick." He murmured, before walking away from that office.


	4. The contract – Part 2

Lei Wulong slammed the door of the Leana's, and almost fell on top of the secretary, when the receptionist was leaned, gazing the roof.

"Nina Williams!" He panted, showing her his badge. "Where is she?!"

"What?! Oh, officer! I didn't… oh, Nina… are you referring to that blonde chick that arrived yesterday?"

"Where is she?!"

"Calm… down! Just go through the hallway… fifth room, at your… right."

He tried to ignore the fact that the lady was drugged, and rushed to the darkened corridor, with quick and silent steps. Nina Williams was a priority: she's nothing more than one of the police' most wanted. After disappearing from the radar for years, she apparently resurfaced. And he's going to be the one to catch her.

As he walked the dark and stinky corridor, he started to sweat and he felt his heart pulsating in his throat. She's a ghost of his past, a vendetta in this 'cat and mouse' game, which she always managed to win. She's the only criminal he always failed to catch.

Once he stood in front of the door, he held his breath, gripping his gun with both hands.

* * *

Nina was still stuck in a battle between the assassin, who never left a job undone, and a mother's instinct to protect. Gods above, even her hands were shaking…

But something suddenly snapped her out of it. She couldn't hear anything, but she could swear she was not alone anymore.

* * *

Wulong took initiative and shoot the door's lock, giving it a kick, to open it. "Freeze!" He ordered.

However, he immediately had to take cover, before being allowed to have a glimpse on the room. Nina has shoot, and missed him by close. Rolling his eyes to the door frame, Lei was able to see the wood cracked by the bullet.

"Nina Williams! You have no escape! It is better for you if you surrender!" He screamed, before turning to the room, gun first. His heart jumped. The only thing he saw was an empty room, a forgotten sniper, and an open window.

 _Why did I talk?_

He rushed to the window, and saw her running through the escape ladders. "Shit!" He quickly surveyed his surroundings, and locked his gaze on a drainage pipe. He slid down through it, and continued the pursuit by foot.

"Freeze! He shouted again, before shooting. He saw her, at distance, losing her balance for a second, but she kept running. _Did I hit her?_ He thought, with the adrenaline flooding his system. He even felt himself running faster, with the perspective of catching her, while his head mimicked the clicking sound of the cuffs closing around her wrists. Until all his confidence went down on a dime: Nina ran, several meters ahead, in a route of collision with the target she almost killed.

* * *

 _Keep going. Just keep going…_ This repetitive thought was the only thing keeping Nina on her feet. Now, she was running, no matter where, trying to escape. Who the hell was that man?

In panic, she didn't realize the unsuspecting young man who where walking the streets, hearing music with headphones. Both crashed, and she fell. Their eyes met, and he immediately took off the headphones, with a concerned expression.

"You ok?" He asked, helping her to stand. Nina was aphonic for a while. She was face to face with her son, Steve. "Do… did we know each other?" He asked suddenly, after swiping out every detail of her face. "Thank you…" She managed to say, before running away.

* * *

"Hey! Wait…" Steve Fox has never felt more intrigued, but when that woman came across. That face… he was almost certain to know it from somewhere…

Moments later, a cop stops beside him, panting. "Are you ok?" "Why shouldn't I?" He didn't answer: he just looked ahead, and draw a rather painful expression on his face, when he realized he lost her sight. "Damn it!" He muttered.

"Who is she?" Steve asked, curiously.

"Someone you should avoid at all cost…" The long-haired man replied evasively, before sheathing his weapon, and walk away. Steve retained his gaze on the strange man. _What the hell did he meant by that?_

However, moments later, his mind laid somewhere else. All he could remind, all he could focus on, was that strange fugitive. _Why do I have this feeling… that I know her from somewhere?_

* * *

Lei couldn't believe in his bad luck: Nina Williams escaped once again. He wouldn't have the pleasure of returning to the police station and see his boss swallowing his damn pipe when he saw her walking with her hands behind her back towards the remotest cell they have in the catacombs.

Now he was prepared to be mocked by his fellow co-workers. Even if he manages to have a description from the hotel's hostess, no one would believe in the word of that drug addict. _Unless…_ His eyes opened wide, and he ran as fast as he could to the Leana's when he remembered the sniper which had been forgotten in the hotel room. _That they could not ignore!_


	5. A Trial of Faith

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNina was on the run for what appeared to be hours straight. The adrenaline started to fade, and the pain on her right leg was becoming more pungent by the minute./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAs she went deeper and deeper into the streets of the city, her body started to cool down, and her pace slowed. Before she realizes, she was limping, leaned against the walls. She was feeling her leg wet, so she took a look down, only to see a trail of blood droplets behind her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Shit./em That would draw unwanted attention for sure, when all she needed was a quiet, calm place, for her alone. Forcing her mind to reason under all the pain, she looked upwards. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"A window. All I need is a window./em She ran to the alleys for a reason: nobody likes to go through them alone, when they have wide, lit streets to roam by. There, it was less likely to come across with somebody… the only drawback is that, if that happened, it was likely to be some drug addict, a thief… or even a rapper. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanStill, nothing to afraid of… not when you're a skilled assassin yourself…/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe was in a narrow alley between two damaged buildings. In there, she passed in the middle of stinky trash cans, and even spotted the shadow of a giant rat, running into hide. She painfully moved forward, only to encounter a wire fence, about five meters tall, barring the way to the other side. She crossed her fingers to the wire, inspecting the area ahead: the scenario repeated, with rotten trash bags leaned against the walls, and rooky, signature-like, graffiti's. It caught her interest when she spotted a glassless window, burned all around./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe had to try: she was already beginning to feel an uncomfortable tingling spreading down her right leg. She had to be quick to get there before she stops feeling it. She inhaled deeply before searching a good place between the wires to place her feet. Firstly, the one of the wounded leg, then the other, which she used to push her body upwards. Her right leg was acting like a dead weight she had to drag – as it passed through the fence, Nina felt the barbed wire thorns sticking through her suit into her flesh. She shivered in pain, the palms of her hands now sweaty and slippery. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"C'mon! You didn't put yourself to all this effort for nothing!/em /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe focused, trying to release her leg, while getting a grip over her current position. A battle between mind and body that took several minutes, before she finally crossed her legs to the other side, falling helplessly./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe felt dizzy and nauseated, when she slowly opened his eyes to a blurry grey sky above her. Every breath was painful, her hip was hurting badly, and her right leg fell into dormancy./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe clouds became darker, and soon it started to rain. The drops of water were uncomfortable at first, but then they had calming effect, and even helped to ease her pain enough for her to reunite her remnant strength to carry on./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe dragged herself to the nearest trash-can. If she could climb it, she would easily enter in the building through the burnt window. She was leant against the dustbin, and her hands reached its top and applied as much pressure as she could. She managed to stand on a single foot, before throwing herself over the container. Then, she tried the same prowess towards the window, but it was too high: she had to stand up to reach it. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"You're close. Don't give up now./em She took another big breath, before seeking support in the brick wall. She slowly stood up, but the container was too much slippery to keep balance on one foot. She knew instinctively she wouldn't keep herself up for long. If she falls again, it is likely to never rise again. And so, as soon as stood, she immediately stretched her arms up: she grabbed the window frame a second before her left foot gave in./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThen, she pulled herself up, her arms trembling violently under the tremendous effort, whining like she never thought doing in her life. But, finally, she managed to enter in the dark room, head first./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe was panting heavily, but felt a smile emerge in her lips, as she had a thought of triumph. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I made it…/em/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe almost felt invigorated by it. However, the moment she rose, a voice echoed, deep and rough, through the darkness, making her shiver. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Who are you? This is MY place! Go find one to yourself!" Ahead, she spotted the shadow of a dirty, raw-boned man, dressed in ragged clothes, aiming a baseball bat. She ignored him. She had come too far to get back. So she locked her gaze in him, and awaited his move. As soon as the man tried to hit her, she quickly blocked the baseball bat, and, taking the blade she was keeping hidden on her belt, she stabbed his neck, and left him choke in his own blood, while she took advantage on the adrenaline rush, provoked by her recent kill, to find the bathroom./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanOn the way, she inspected the kitchen. Near the carburized stove, laid a pair of scissors and over-placed pots; and under the balcony, the cupboard with the damaged door, had some tableware. She took the scissors and one more knife… just in case of finding more people in that place. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe bathroom was a small cabin, with a broken, moldy tub, a sink with large roasted-yellow stains, and a small, cracked mirror-cabinet. She didn't recognize the shattered image of the woman it was giving her: she was pale as a ghost, her eyes wet and sunken, like she doesn't sleep for a month. Inside the cabinet only figured a few empty tubes of toothpaste, a plastic cup holding an old toothbrush and a pair of syringes, a bottle of medicine with a label she couldn't identify, and a small box of sleeping pills. She opened the bottle only to twist her nose. God knows for how long that bottle was there, judging by the mold circling the bottleneck. Additionally, she also found some pliers, a nail file and a bag of cotton, in the drawers beneath the sink./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWith the scissors, she cut a blaze of fabric over the bullet wound. The blood immediately started to flow. Nina thanked for the fact she was wearing a tight latex suit, otherwise she could have bled out on the run. Then, she used the rags to make a tourniquet. Her whole body was trembling and her stomach was threatening to vomit, even knowing it was empty. Then, she took a hand full of pills down her throat, looking the nasty whole, where she could see the metallic shine of the bloody projectile, stuck in her flesh. She passed her hands through running water, and took a breath. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Here goes nothing./em/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe applied pressure around the bullet. She whined, and the bullet barely moved, so she tried to pull it out with the pliers. She bit her own gums to distract herself from the pain. Even with the poor grip, she managed to pull the small, bronze colored, bullet out of her leg, ending soaked in sweat, in whose longest fifteen minutes of her life, for sure… even if she doesn't remember most of it. For a minute, all she could do was cry. But then she ordered herself to recompose: she held her breath to stop whimper, and released the air slowly. The bullet was out. Now, she needed to treat the wound. She needed an aseptic of some sort. But unfortunately, there wasn't any. Her head was hurting badly, threatening to faint at any moment. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanReviewing her tools, she took one of the bullets of her 9mm, and used the knife she encountered on the kitchen to empty it of gunpowder. However, that kitchen knife was fragile, so the moment she opened the bullet' casing, the knife's blade separated from the wooden cable. She poured the black powder over the wood, and with the snatched blade, she fractionated both, until a bright yellow flame rose. Now taking her assassin blade, made out of a single piece of steel, she roughly cleaned it against her suit; then passed it through the fire, until she obtained incandescent metal. Nina could feel its heat already. She swallowed, facing the blade. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"You were made to kill, but today I'll ask you to cure./em/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe held her breath. When the lit steel touched the wound, her flesh hissed, and Nina Williams screamed her lungs out. Outside, a bolt tore the skies with the sound of a hundred explosions./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe dropped the knife, taking a look on her burnt wound. The sound of a door knocking made her quickly grab the blade, tensing her muscles to fight once more./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Who the hell screamed?" Asked a man, who have entered the apartment. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I don't know." Another replied. "But it couldn't be the old Freddy." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Oh no, oh no! Sam! He's… dead!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"What the… Shit! Search the whole house! The Sinfold Gang must have sent thugs for us!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Damn bastards…"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNina tried to breathe as quietly as possible, not only to not be spotted, but also to have notion on her enemies' position. And she could hear one, coming closer./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe guy only had time to make the rusty gun pass through the bathroom door. Nina quickly held it, twisting his arm, and blew his head with a single shot. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAs the other one rushed to her site, she used the corpse as a human shield, and finished his colleague with two shots in his chest./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe slowly moved to the living room. The only thing she could hear was the rain, hitting the building' walls: she was finally alone./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanA quick inspection to the two armed men brought her some extra bullets for her pistol, and she even found small plastic bags of cocaine in the pockets of one of them. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Dealers. Great./em /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanRight from the bathroom, there was the remaining of a bedroom. The wind enveloped the place with a ghostly murmur, lifting the ash cloak on the floor, and the window through which it entered had the scraps of the old curtains, dyed black, curling violently in its passage, along with the droplets of rain, and the flash of a bolt. The bed had its iron structure relatively intact, excepting the dry, burned mattress, which formed a concave surface. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAside of that, figured an end-table, which was an ash pile with a broken lamp o top. Of all furniture, only the huge wardrobe was burned, but surprisingly solid. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanEven in front of such horrifying scenario, the temptation for her to rest was too high. Her body dragged itself to the bed. She doesn't even remember of lying down./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWhen Nina raised her eyes again, the Sun was bright, its rays bathing the whole room. Her arms were hurting badly, and she soon realized she had them stretched upwards, her fists strongly tied to the iron structure of the bed with some plastic strips. Her right leg started to wake up as well, greeting her with elevating pain. Not that she had much time to complain. She had already a rush of adrenaline running through her system to get herself free. She bent her knees, pulling the strips, in the hope of them to break. They didn't: the more she pulled, the more those strips strangled her wrists, threatening to cut them off if she doesn't stop./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNina then heard voices approaching, and forced herself to stand still. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Never show fear to an enemy./em This was one, in the middle of a vast series of rules, deeply enrooted in her brain; a code she has been following since she woke on that damn bunker. The distant voices became three men, invading the room with sulky expressions. One of them, heavy-built monster, whose arms were enveloped in a strange web of tattoos, spoke with a deep voice. "So, you're awake…" He contoured the bed slowly, with his eyes rolling to the figure of her body. On his belt, a familiar shine caught Nina's attention: he was carrying her gun. He pulled a chair and sat at her left. He then took the 9mm, inspecting it with a smile. "Quite unusual to find a woman with one of these… Unless she's a cop." He pointed the gun at her head. "Is that what you are?" "No." His expression became bitterer in a second, and his eyes began shining with fury. "Do not lie, woman!" He roared. But Nina kept her cold, apathetic expression. In an access of rage, the man hit her with the gun barrel, and Nina's felt her heart pulsating on her lips, before the ferruginous taste of her own blood invaded her mouth. "If you're not a cop, who the hell are you?!" He demanded. His colleagues, silently observing the scene by the entrance, giggled./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNina's throat dried in that instant. The same where time had stop, and her mind got stuck in that same question: em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"who am I?/em She bit her lip, without remembering it was wounded, and the sudden pain brought her back of that vicious cycle. She didn't even notice she had the pistol pressed to her cheek. She answered with the systematic, and coldness, of a robot. "Nobody." The man inhaled deeply, to ease himself down. "The Sinfold?" She didn't answer. "The Vipers?" And the silence remained, much for his disgust. "Who the hell sent you?!" "Nobody." "'Nobody' doesn't simply come here and murder two of our guys!" He hit her face again on the other side, and she ended with a nose bleed… "Let's try again…" He showed a pervert smile, as his fingers swiped her right leg, before sunken in the cauterized wound. She tried her best to maintain her composure, but she couldn't handle it. As her screams echoed to the apartment, so did those guys' laughs, as they mocked at her state. Ten awfully long seconds were all it took to make her soaked in sweat, trembling violently, once again. "You're tough." The man beside her recognized, releasing the pressure on her wound. "And you can't imagine how lucky you are. You see, if it depended on them, your corpse would be feeding the rats outside." He pointed to his colleagues. "But I have plans for you." He smiled. Then, the pistol pressed to her face started sliding down: contoured her throat, passing slowly between her breasts, as Nina caught the bastard salivating from the corners of his mouth. He kept its descent, passing the gun through her belly. Outraged by such advances, she tried to release herself, only to have a pair of fingers pressing into her wound once again. The message was clear: sem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"tand still or it will hurt./em She had no option but to see the men's expressions of joy, as the gun reached her core. The room was silent when they heard a clicking sound of a loading pistol. Nina shivered for a moment, a glimpse of wariness which lasted two seconds; time enough to amuse the guy almost laid on top of her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I have to go now. Have business to attend. You better prepare yourself for my arrival. I shall treat you like a doll… literally." He finished with a pervert smile, leaving the room, after ordering one of his guard dogs to watch her./span/p 


End file.
